More handpicked essays just for you.
Slavery and the economy in America
Economic effects of slavery in America
Slavery and the economy in America
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The North is popularly considered the catalyst of the abolitionist movement in antebellum America and is often glorified in its struggle against slavery; however, a lesser-known installment of the Northern involvement during this era is one of its complicity in the development of a “science” of race that helped to rationalize and justify slavery and racism throughout America. The economic livelihood of the North was dependent on the fruits of slave labor and thus the North, albeit with some reluctance, inherently conceded to tolerate slavery and moreover embarked on a quest to sustain and legitimize the institution through scientific research. Racism began to progress significantly following the American Revolution after which Thomas Jefferson himself penned Notes on the State of Virginia, a document in which he voiced his philosophy on black inferiority, suggesting that not even the laws of nature could alter it. Subsequent to Jefferson’s notes, breakthroughs in phrenological and ethnological study became fundamental in bolstering and substantiating the apologue of racial inadequacy directed at blacks. Throughout history, slavery was indiscriminate of race and the prospect acquiring freedom not impossible; America, both North and South, became an exception to the perennial system virtually guaranteeing perpetual helotry for not only current slaves but also their progeny. The North acquiesced to slavery for the purpose of reaping the benefits of economic stability and growth by way of the free labor it provided; such capitulation on the issue was contrary to the political stance of Northerners at the time, but there was no denying their reliance on the pecuniary advantage it created. From seed to cloth, Northern merchants, sh... ... middle of paper ... ...d that black people were simply afflicted with a form of leprosy of which caused blackening of skin as well as swelling to the lips and nose. Rush also believed the leprosy dulled sensitivity and created a higher threashhold for pain, a trait slaveowners used to legitimize beatings. (183) The studies by Morton, Rush, Agassiz, and Nott helped support and justify racial segregation via rational science making it readily accepted by white Northerners as matter of fact rather than a possible act of moral turpitude. Through the development of racial science the Northerners were able to legitimize their involvement with the institution of slavery in order to ensure their own stability and way of life. Works Cited Farrow, Anne, Joel Lang, and Jenifer Frank. Complicity: How the North Promoted, Prolonged, and Profited from Slavery. New York: Ballantine, 2006. Print.
In Myne Owne Ground, the authors argue that it was not inevitable that black men and women were made subordinate to white colonists in colonial Virginia because in the early days there was more about wealth, economic standing, and religion than the color of one’s skin. For example, when a white man, Richard Ackworth, ask John Johnson to give testimony in a suit which Ackworth had filed against another Whiteman (Myne Owne Ground, 16). They were unwilling to allow a black man to testify in legal proceedings involving whites at first, but when they learned that John had been baptized and understood the meaning of an oat, they accepted his statement.
Paul Finkelman takes on the role of devil’s advocate in his book “Defending Slavery”. Within the first section of the book, Finkelman explains the background of slavery both in America and around the world, past, post-American Revolution, and around the world. He then goes on to explain the revelations which prompted the South to develop a course of action to defend slavery. In detail and chronological order, he describes the various means of defense used by those in favor of slavery in America. Their justifications for slavery and resistance against its abolishment were rooted in religion, politics, economics and other aspects that drive society.
There are many contradictions pertaining to slavery, which lasted for approximately 245 years. In Woody Holton’s “Black Americans in the Revolutionary Era”, Holton points out the multiple instances where one would find discrepancies that lie in the interests of slaveowners, noble figures, and slaves that lived throughout the United States. Holton exemplifies this hostility in forms of documents that further specify and support his claim.
In Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State Virginia, Query 14 & 18 Jefferson uses the literary technique of compare and contrast as well as rhetorical questions to describe how white people are far more superior to slaves. However, by minimizing the validity of the African peoples beauty and way of life he only shows himself to be ignorant and insecure.As a result, Thomas Jefferson's Query 14 & 18 showcases the psychological disabilities that comes with “whiteness”.
In “From Notes on the State of Virginia,” Thomas Jefferson includes some proposed alterations to the Virginia Laws and discusses some differences between blacks and whites. First, he describes one of the proposed revisions regarding slavery: All slaves born after the enactment of the alteration will be freed; they will live with their parents till a certain age, then be nurtured at public disbursement and sent out of state to form their own colonies such that intermarrying and conflicts can be avoided between blacks and whites. Next, Jefferson indicates some physical differences between blacks and whites, including skin color, hair, amount of exudates secreted by kidneys and glands, level of transpiration, structure in the pulmonary organ, amount of sleep, and calmness when facing dangers. As he notes, these differences point out that blacks are inferior to whites in terms of their bodies. In addition, Jefferson also asserts that the blacks’ reasoning and imagination are much inferior to the whites’ after he observes some of the art work and writings from the blacks. As a result, based on his observation, he draws a conclusion that whites are superior to blacks in terms of both body and mind. However, Jefferson’s use of hasty generalization, begging the question, and insulting language in his analysis is a huge flaw which ruins the credibility of his argument and offenses his readers.
Jefferson feared the immigrants could explode into “unbounded licentiousness” doing so would bring down the curtains of the new republic. He also feared that unless men obeyed their moral sense and exercised self-control they would “live at random” and destroy the republican order. In Jefferson’s view, slavery was not only a violation of black’s rights to liberty, it also undermined the self-c...
...ecause they feared that Slavery would soon be completely abolished. These tensions eventually led to the civil war where the North won and slavery was ended although there were still slave like laws in place after.
In the 1830’s the Southerners thought, or made themselves think, slavery was a necessary evil. They thought that the Negroes were as helpless as children, without foresight or faculties that would enable them to depended upon anybody else but the white race. Southerners saw themselves as the great people who helped accelerate the transition process of this inferior tribe; the process from barbarianism to civilization. They felt enslavement benefited slaves; heaven forbid slaves were free,...
Slavery in the eighteenth century was worst for African Americans. Observers of slaves suggested that slave characteristics like: clumsiness, untidiness, littleness, destructiveness, and inability to learn the white people were “better.” Despite white society's belief that slaves were nothing more than laborers when in fact they were a part of an elaborate and well defined social structure that gave them identity and sustained them in their silent protest.
Walker addresses biases established by Jefferson decades before his time that still significantly shape the way many think about blacks. In doing so, Walker is able to draw attention the problematic logic behind said arguments. Ultimately, in his Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World, David Walker addresses the arguments, presented in Thomas Jefferson’ Notes on the State of Virginia, of race superiority, slavery, citizenship, and Jefferson’s own default validation by means of his authority, to further and strengthen his own abolitionist
Slavery was the main resource used in the Chesapeake tobacco plantations. The conditions in the Chesapeake region were difficult, which lead to malnutrition, disease, and even death. Slaves were a cheap and an abundant resource, which could be easily replaced at any time. The Chesapeake region’s tobacco industries grew and flourished on the intolerable and inhumane acts of slavery.
After the American Revolution, slavery began to decrease in the North, just as it was becoming more popular in the South. By the turn of the century, seven of the most Northern states had abolished slavery. During this time, a surge of democratic reform swept the North to the West, and there were demands for political equality, economic and social advances for all Americans. Northerners said that slavery revoked the human right of being a free person and when new territories became available i...
The North had confidently been recognized as a manufacturing society. Labor was needed, although not necessarily slave labor. Immigration was an encouragement. Immigrants that were from European regions worked in factories, built the railroads in the North, and developed the West. Very little stayed put in the South.
The North’s negligence also contributed to the end of Reconstruction. The North had failed to notice the many racially motivated atrocities that occurred in the South durin...
Slavery was the core of the North and South’s conflict. Slavery has existed in the New World since the seventeenth century prior to it being exclusive to race. During those times there were few social and political concerns about slavery. Initially, slaves were considered indentured servants who will eventually be set free after paying their debt(s) to the owner. In some cases, the owners were African with white servants. However, over time the slavery became exclusive to Africans and was no limited to a specific timeframe, but life. In addition, the treatment of slaves worsens from the Atlantic Slave trade to th...